1. Rob Schupbach
CRIN E07: Elementary Math Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. Margie Mason/Ms. Rachael Cofer
November 17, 2011
15th Annual Mathematics Day
Teaching Mathematics in the 21st Century
November 10, 2011
Attending the 15th Annual Mathematics Day at the College of William and Mary was a
highlight to the grueling semester. Although I was feeling quite ill (I passed a kidney stone later
that evening!) the day was filled with helpful tools as I begin to navigate what I anticipate will be
a very rough math class during my student teaching.
Sadly, due to logistical reasons, I was unable to attend most of the day. However, I was
able to the whole day. It was quite a struggle just to get to the conference. A faction of us really
wanted to go (mainly Dr. Mason’s section). However, the other section did not want to go, and
actually one student described it as, “a waste of time.” That was not my sections sentiments. We
wanted to expand on the knowledge that we were learning in class. We were taking copious
notes, and then realized that all of the information would be up on the Tide Water website. We
sat back, and let the information wash over us.
As my cohort colleagues gathered together, we watched as are future, veteran colleagues
engaged in the keynote speech of Dr. Francis “Skip” Fennell from McDaniel College. Some of
the statistics that Dr. Fennell presented were mind boggling! The fact that only a small portion of
17 year-olds can identify the denominator and numerator in a fraction is very disheartening. How
could this basic knowledge slip through the cracks? I was quite taken with the LiveScribe pen
and software in which Dr. Fennell had used with a student (his granddaughter). It seems to be a
great resource for teachers to go back and do an error analysis. I was also quite glad that Dr.
Fennell introduced the Danica McKellar’s books on mathematics. Of course, being older than the
rest of my cohort colleagues, I remember her as “Whinny Cooper” from The Wonder Years.

2. Rob Schupbach
CRIN E07: Elementary Math Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. Margie Mason/Ms. Rachael Cofer
November 17, 2011
However, she went on to get a degree in mathematics and has written books on getting kids,
especially girls, into math. I was also happy that Dr. Fennell touched upon the Common Core.
Even though that seems to be dirty words in Virginia, it is nice to see it being broached in
mathematics education. Math methods class is the only class in which we examined the Common
Core against the Virginia SOLs.
I attended Judith Post, Robin Blake, and Stacy Newell’s session entitled “What’s Your
Angle” during the first session. The session was presented as such: Participants will work to
create an “angle measuring” device. We will us the book Sir Cumference and the Great King of
Angleland as a backdrop for the activity. First, I appreciated the infusion of children’s literature
into the mathematics class. I think that is what drew me to this session. The leaders of the session
introduced us to STEM education. I appreciated their candor about how STEM education often
has misinterpretations and multiple meanings. In this session, we created our own device (a
protractor) to measure 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°. Fellow cohort member and friend, Courtney Mann
and I worked together. The instructors had a variety of materials. While looking at the materials,
I realized that we could use a long cardboard tube with a piece of yarn coming out of the center.
It really was a nice project. The group leaders wanted to keep our finished project, and Courtney
and I were happy that we could use both our creativity and mathematics knowledge to create
something useful.